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Leaving a Legacy

At the age of five, Dr. Audrey Evans knew she wanted to be a doctor. 

She could be found, running around her family’s house in York, England, equipped with her own first aid basket and ready for any sudden medical issue that someone might face. What she perhaps didn’t foresee though, was that her work and her dreams would revolutionize the healthcare industry.

Although her parents tried to persuade her to try nursing instead of medical school, Dr. Evans had one goal – to become a doctor. Her steadfast passion for medicine helped her break gender barriers in the industry. As one of few women in her medical school, the only female third-year resident at the Royal Infirmary in Scotland, and ultimately as the first Chief of Oncology at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), she truly forged a path for other women physicians.

“Dr. Evans, in every respect, is the grandmother of pediatric oncology," says John Maris, Children Hospital of Philadelphia’s (CHoP) chief of oncology. “Her pioneering work included early testing of chemotherapy treatments for children that led to major advances in patient survival rates. When she started nearly every child with cancer died of it. By the time she retired, survival rates exceeded 75%.”

Dr. Evans also founded the oncology research department at the hospital. And under her direction, the team, including Dr. Maris, found the culprit to the disease’s proliferation and the genes responsible for causing neuroblastoma, a major feat in the treatment of the disease, which bolstered survival rates. 

Her work and her ideas extended beyond the hospital though. Long before the term ‘family-centered care’ became a hot topic in the health care industry, Dr. Evans had a vision. She witnessed the parents of her patients sleeping on cots, chairs, and floors of the hospital just so they could be close to their child firsthand. She knew the valuable role parents and siblings played in her patients’ recovery, but without a place for them to rest and regroup, they could only provide so much strength to their loved one.

In 1974, an opportunity knocked. An unlikely partnership between the Philadelphia Eagles, McDonald’s and Dr. Evans brought her vision to life. Between the fundraising support of the Eagles, under the leadership of Jimmy Murray and a McDonald’s Shamrock Shake promotion, Dr. Evans was able to purchase a house near the hospital and create a home away from home for families – that place of refuge and respite that she had been dreaming about for a long time. This was the first Ronald McDonald House, erected and opened in Philadelphia in October, 1974. 

“She truly was a pioneer in understanding the total care approach to families with seriously ill children,” says Susan Campbell, executive director Ronald McDonald House of Philadelphia. “She brought together social workers, nurses, teachers and others to work together for holistic family-centered care. And through her championing of the Ronald McDonald House, she put psycho social programs on the map as elemental initiatives in the healing of a child.”

In 2009, after dedicating 50 years of her life to pediatric oncology, Dr. Evans retired. However, it hasn’t slowed her down. In fact, she cofounded an Episcopal school for vulnerable children in North Philadelphia, called the St. James School, which focuses on a total care approach to education, mirroring the Ronald McDonald House model.

Today, Dr. Evans’ legacy lives on both at CHOP and at Ronald McDonald House Charities. With 322 Ronald McDonald Houses around the world, there is no denying that this program is fundamental in improving the health and well being of a child, battling illness or injury. In fact, research conducted by the Charity in 2012 revealed what Dr. Evans always believed to be true; indeed, children heal faster when they are surrounded by their families. 

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  • Sharon Houin

    07/03/2013 2:34pm

    This story and its insight to Dr. Evans helps to understand the love behind every wall here at this house. I feel privileged to share the great experience at Ronald McDonald House and all the special volunteers. Thank you Dr. Evans and your blessed vision for family.

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    Use your Facebook account to log in and leave a comment that can be shared with your Facebook friends, too.